Salvage
by Trufreak89
Summary: After the events of Exodus Sawyer wakes up being dragged out of the water. Skate and implied JK.


**Title: **Salvage

**Summary: **After the events of Exodus Sawyer wakes up being dragged out of the water.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Lost or anything associated with the show.

**Rating: **PG

**A/N: **This is my first Lost fic, so it may be a little OOC. Skate with implied JK.

As he was being pulled he started to regain conscious. His arms felt heavy and sore and whoever was dragging him had given no thought to the fact that they might be hurting him; it wasn't their priority. When the cold ocean water lapped against his face he realised he was being dragged on his back out of the water.

At first he couldn't remember how he'd gotten in to the water, but then he remembered the raft and the rescue boat and being shot. And Walt. Had they taken Walt? Were the very men who had shot him dragging him? He tried to pull away from their grasp but the person dragging him just became more insistent and eventually he was lying on his back on the sand with the waves lapping at his feet.

His eyes were still closed; he hadn't found the strength, or the courage to open them. He felt a hand on his chest over his heart. His dragger obviously wanted him alive, next they leant over his open mouth to check he was breathing and that's when his nostrils were filed with the sweet, familiar scent he had lost when he left the island. Kate.

"Sawyer!" Kate's voice filled his ears. "Sawyer I need you to wake up!" He was trying didn't she see that? He was trying to open his eyes but his eyelids felt like led weights and his body was too sore to move. He groaned slightly as he felt her tie something tightly around his arm and shoulder over the gun wound, most probably her shirt.

"Sawyer!" She was shouting this time, her voice panicked and desperate. "Please, please wake up." She shook him and he groaned again.

"Jeez freckles…can't a man get some peace and quiet?" He choked out, his voice raspy and cracked from dehydration and exhaustion.

He inhaled sharply as she hugged him tightly, and he felt cold tears drop on to his exposed shoulder. Suddenly, despite all the pain, his arms were moving and became wrapped around her tightly. "C'mon now, it's alright." He soothed in her ear as she began to sob. She pulled away and shook her head, her eyes red and puffy from days of endless crying.

"Michael and Jin, they came back a day ago, they were floating on logs, they had some food and water but they were still barely alive…you weren't with them and they said you were shot…I thought you were dead you son of a bitch." She pounded in to his chest as she continued to sob and he took hold of her arms to stop her and embraced her again.

"It's alright now." She soothed.

"Never do that to me again!" Kate cried in his ear and he smiled as he held on to her, her scent and touch filling his senses.

"Sure thing, no more getting shot and floating around in sea." His smile broadened slightly when he heard her laugh. Her laughter was a rare occurrence and when he'd left he thought he'd never hear it again. "Good job you didn't steal my place, that might be o' been you out there." He stopped smiling as he realised what Kate had said earlier, Michael and Jin returned, but no Walt.

"They got Walt didn't they?" He muttered and she nodded. "It was my fault. I had the gun I should of shot 'em when I had the chance…" Kate took Sawyer's face in her hands so she was looking her directly in the eye.

"There was nothing you could do Sawyer, Michael knows that. He called you a hero for what you did on the raft, saving the rudder, trying to save Walt with the gun…"

"It wasn't enough though was it?" The question hung heavy in the air and the silence that had always been serene between them became uneasy and tense.

"Don't Sawyer. You can spend the rest of your life blaming yourself but it won't change a damn thing. Walt's gone…but we're still alive and there are still polar bears and god-knows-what on this island, we have to keep surviving."

Sawyer slowly got to his feet, wincing at how much his whole body hurt and Kate followed suite, taking his arm over her shoulder to help him walk. "Let's get you to Jack." Kate muttered and started walking slowly with Sawyer.

"I was wrong you know." Sawyer spoke and ended the silence that had settled between them after leaving the beach where Kate had spotted Sawyer. They were only a few minutes from the part of the beach where the other survivors were and Sawyer stopped to finish off what was left of the water bottle Kate had given him.

"About what?" Kate asked as she took a drink of her own water.

"About not having nothing to stay here for." He smiled as Kate took his arm on her shoulder again and got them moving.

"C'mon Sawyer, we'll get you to Jack…"

"Good ol' doctor Jack." Sawyer grumbled. "I'm sure **he** was ecstatic you didn't go on the raft." Kate stopped abruptly and Sawyer jerked to a stop and fell to the sand, as she was no longer supporting him. She stood in front of him as he knelt in the sand, looking up at the woman he had been sure he'd never see again. She knelt down without a word and crushed her lips to his. When they pulled away, panting for air she was grinning at the look of confusion on Sawyer's face. She stood up and held out her hand to help him.

"Now why'd you do that?" He asked as they stumbled onwards towards the beach. Kate gave him a mischievous smile as the other spotted them from further up the beach and Jack and Charlie started running down to help them.

"I'm a complicated girl, Sawyer."

Fin.


End file.
